Sermons on the Song of Songs

“The King hath brought me into His storerooms; we will be glad and rejoice in thee, remembering thy breasts more than wine.”

“The King hath brought me into His storerooms.” Behold, my brethren, the source of the odour! Behold the goal of the running! The Spouse has already told us that we are to run, and after what odours we are to run; but not till now has she mentioned whither we are to direct our running. Therefore, she now explains that we are to run to the King’s storerooms, and under the influence of the odours proceeding thence; for she, with her wonted sagacity, has been the first to detect the fragrance and is eager for admission to its source, so that she may enjoy the fulness thereof. But what are we to understand by these storerooms? For the present let us consider them as the Bridegroom’s sweet-smelling promptuaries, so to speak, filled with odoriferous fruits of the soil, replenished with all manner of delights. It is in storehouses of this kind that all the more precious produce of the field and the garden are hoarded up and preserved. Here, then, is the goal of the running. But who are they that run? They are souls that are fervent in spirit. The Spouse runs, and so do the “young maidens.” But the former runs more swiftly because she loves more ardently, and so reaches her destination more speedily. On her arrival, far from meeting with a repulse, she is not even kept waiting. The door is opened to her without delay, as to one of the household, as to one most tenderly and especially beloved, and most warmly welcomed. But what about the “young maidens”? They are following indeed, but far behind. For, being as yet weak, they cannot keep pace with the devotion of the Spouse, nor emulate her desire and her fervour. Therefore, they arrive later and remain outside. But the charity of the Spouse is not at rest nor, as commonly happens, is she so elated with her good fortune as to forget them. Rather she consoles them and encourages them to bear with patience and equanimity both their disappointment and their separation from herself. She also tells them of the happiness she enjoys, for no other reason than that they may rejoice with her, because they feel firmly persuaded that, whatever graces and favours are bestowed upon their mother, they have a right to regard as in some sense their own. For she is not so intent upon her own advancement as to neglect the care of them, nor does she wish to procure any advantage to herself or to her private interests at their expense. Therefore, no matter how high above them the superiority of her merits raises her, she will most certainly feel obliged, through her charity and tender solicitude, to remain always with them. For it behoves her to emulate the example of her Beloved. And as He, whilst ascending to heaven, promised nevertheless to abide on earth with His disciples, even to the consummation of the world, so should she also combine a care for others with zeal for her own spiritual progress. Hence, whatever her distance from them, however far advanced beyond them, she can never lay aside her care, and her solicitude, and her affection for those whom she has brought forth in the Gospel; she can never forget her own flesh and blood.

She says to them, therefore, “Rejoice and have confidence. The King hath brought me into His storerooms. Consider yourselves introduced likewise. I, indeed, appear to be the only one brought in, but I am not the only one deriving benefit therefrom. For every advantage to me belongs equally to all of you. It is for you I advance, and amongst you I will share whatever beyond you I may chance to merit.” Do you wish, my brethren, to know for certain that she spoke to them in this sense and with such loving affection? Then, listen to their reply: “We will be glad and rejoice in thee.” “In thee,” they say, “we will be glad and rejoice, since we have not yet deserved to experience such emotions in ourselves.” And they immediately add, “remembering thy breasts.” As if they should say, “Yes, we will patiently await thy coming, knowing that thou wilt return to us with full breasts. Then we hope to be glad and to rejoice; meanwhile we console ourselves with the memory of thy breasts.” The words added, “more than wine,” indicate that, by reason of their imperfection, they still relish the memory of carnal delights, yet acknowledge that the desire of these has been overcome by the abundant sweetness, which, as they know by experience, issues forth from the breasts of the Spouse. I should now discourse at length on these breasts, only that I recollect having treated of them sufficiently in a previous sermon. But see now how the young maidens presume with their mother, and how they reckon as their own her joys and her gains, and generously console themselves for their disappointment in not obtaining admittance by the thought of her success. Certainly, they could not be so bold with her, did they not recognise in her a mother. Attend to this, ye prelates, who are always ready to inspire your flocks with fear, but seldom to do them a service. “Receive instruction, ye that judge the earth.” Learn how you ought to be the mothers rather than the masters of these committed to your care. Study, therefore, to make yourselves more loved than feared; and if, sometimes, there is need of severity, let it be the severity of a parent, not that of a tyrant. Show yourselves to be mothers in love and fathers in correction. Cultivate meekness, restrain your anger, put away the scourge of discipline and offer instead the breasts of affection. And let these breasts be enlarged with an abundance of milk, not dilated by the force of passion. Why do you lay your heavy yoke upon the people whose burdens it is rather your duty to bear? Why is it that the little one, bitten by the infernal serpent, avoids manifesting his condition to the priest, to whom he ought to run with more eagerness than to his mother’s breast? If you be spiritual persons, instruct such in the spirit of mildness, each looking to himself, “lest he also be tempted.” Otherwise, he “shall die in his iniquity,” says the Lord, “but I will require his blood at thy hand.” But of this later.

Now we have to try and discover what is the spiritual signification of these storerooms, as the literal sense of the text is manifest enough from the foregoing observations. In the following verses, there is mention of a garden and of a bedchamber. I intend to treat of both of these in my present discourse, in connexion with the storerooms. For, by considering them together, we shall be able to make each of the three throw light on the others. And first, if you please, we shall seek in the Holy Scriptures for these three things, viz., a garden, a storeroom, and a bedchamber. For the soul that thirsts after God gladly rests and lingers in His inspired word, knowing that therein, without any doubt, she shall find Him for Whose company she yearns. Let the garden, then, symbolise the simple plain, historic sense. Let the storeroom represent the moral signification, and let the bedchamber typify the secret meaning only revealed to divine contemplation.